umpire_scott

#1 - R3 is attempting to steal home. As is many times the case, F1 gets distracted by the coaches/teammates telling him to step off that he balks. PU calls "balk". In the meantime F2 comes towards and in front of the plate to catch the ball from F1. R3 lowers shoulder and plows into F2. PU concludes "malicious contact" and ejects R3. PU is unsure whether run should count so he calls me over to discuss. I tell him that since the pitcher didn't throw the pitch the ball became dead once he balked and then stopped. So in my opinion R3 is not liable to be put out. I said R3 scores and then he is ejected. Rule set is MLB with modifications (malicious contact being one of the modifications). DC comes out and argues that the contact occurred before R3 touched home plate so how can he score if he has been ejected. We explain that since it was a dead ball he was not liable to be put out. I'm pretty certain we got it right, but not 100%. #2 - I'm PU for this game. This tournament does not have the PU keep get lineups from each team. The teams are asked to fill out a tournament card with the lineups and the BU keeps it and keeps score on it. Not sure why it's done this way, but it is. After F4 makes a couple of fielding errors DC wants to replace him. He comes to me and says "I'm moving my RF to second and bringing in a new RF. The lineup stays the same it's just defensive substitutions". I relay this information to my partner who has the card. Since it is "just defensive substitutions" no adjustments need to be made on the card. One batter later the other teams scorekeeper/assistant coach requests time to answer a lineup question. He informs me that the new RF is their DH. So I call the DC over and say "you said that your lineup didn't change with that substitution, but you can't put your DH in the field like that and not have it impact your lineup. The DH is connected to the pitchers spot." I tell him so now your second baseman that you took out is not in your lineup anymore. He gets pissed asking why I let him do it if I'm now telling him he can't do it. I said "you never told me you were bringing your DH in. I assumed you were using an EH or batting your lineup". At this point we continue play. Then between innings he asks where his pitcher goes in his lineup now that the DH is killed. I wasn't sure, but I said the pitcher has to take the spot your former second baseman held, as the DH, who is now in RF must remain in his original spot in the order. Did I get the lineup thing right? #3 - Championship game of a AAA 15U tournament. Two really good competitive teams. Bottom of the seventh score is tied at 4, with winning run at second base. F1 pitches and batter squares to bunt. Pitch comes in and hits him right in the stomach. Batter goes down in a heap. I call "time" and quickly check to see if he is okay. At this point I have HBP and am getting ready to award batter first base. Inexplicable, without any communication from me, BU comes walking towards the plate signaling "strike". Third base coach has come down to check on his hitter and sees BU's motions and starts to argue that his player was just trying to get out of the way. Seeing this SH*#storm developing I pull BU aside and ask him what he is doing. He claims that the batter never pulled the bat back so it's a strike. I inform him that is not the case. I then ask him what he saw. He says, I kid you not "Well his bat sort of moved, but let's just let it go because this coach is going to get pissed". I said "well that doesn't matter we need to get the call right. So I ask him if he thought the bat moved towards the ball in an attempt to hit it or did it simply move as he was trying to get out of the way." He isn't sure as he thought that not pulling the bat back constituted a strike. So I conclude that the batter did not make an effort to hit the ball and award him first base. OC comes unglued. He yells "you can't overrule his strike call". I said "I'm the PU I call balls and strikes. We got together and based on what he saw the batter did not strike at the pitch". I didn't want to throw my partner under the bus by stating he had misinterpreted a rule. Next batter singles to right and the winning run scores. As I'm leaving the field I'm really hearing it from the fans. One mom even comes up to me and says "that's the worse call I've ever seen". I tell her that she has no idea what she is talking about and she needs to go read the rule book. I know I should have ignored her, but I'm not always very good at ignoring stupidity. My only question is does my partner coming with the "strike" signal without me even requesting it act as an appeal of sorts as in a checked swing where I'm obligated to go by his opinion?

I should have been a little more specific but the post seemed long enough as it was. My partner was younger and somewhat timid. He did originally tell the coaches to cut it out. But they basically ignored him and kept at each other and then I stepped in and told them the chirping was going to stop or both were going to the parking lot. I did discuss the situation between innings with my partner and he claimed he even knew it was the bench coach that yelled "go", but that he was going to "talk to him between innings" rather than right when it happened. I honestly did not even consider batters being thrown at. I've never had a situation like that so it wasn't even on my radar. I just reiterated to him that anymore comments from the coaches towards each other and they were gone. At this point when the HBP pitch occurred I did not trust my partner to handle it, plus he did not know what the first base coach said to me about the one coach asking which kid was the other coaches. So when the first two pitches came inside he had no clue that anything was going on, so I sort of have to be the one to handle that. I'll admit I was reluctant to issue a warning prior to the kid getting hit as I do think a coach has a right to tell his pitcher to pitch inside. I like the "if you are doing this . . . then" approach. I will use that in the future as it doesn't assume any prejudice. I'm indecisive by nature though. I always try and think things through before making a decision. And when it involves things I have not had to deal with a lot I'm even more careful. This quality often serves me well in umpiring, but clearly is just as big a detriment in certain situations as well.

Had a situation in a AAA 15U tournament this weekend. Started early in the game. I'm in "C" and a fly ball is lifted to left-center. There is a runner on third. As the catch is made I signal out and verbalize "catch". Just before I verbalize "catch" I hear the coach verbalize "go". PU has the tag, R3 scores and no one questions whether he left early. Next batter comes up and the 3rd base coach (Team B) and DC (Team A) are chirping at each other. When I realize it is far from friendly I put a stop to it by issuing warnings. Then the 3rd base coach asks if I heard what he did trying to trick his runner. So apparently it was the DC that yelled "go" early to try and get his to leave early. What a bush league move I thought. Now I know why the 3rd base coach was pissed. Coaches shut up and we go to the next half inning. #2 comes to bat for Team A. Coach for Team B calls time to converse with his pitcher and defense. First base coach turns to me and says "there going to hit this kid. When they were jawing at each other earlier he asked our head coach which kid was his" First pitch comes inside, but batter wasn't in any real danger to get hit. Next pitch is high and tight. First base coach asks if I'm going to do anything about this. I told him I had no proof that the coach did instructed his pitcher to do anything. I said I did not hear him asking about the kids number so I can't just go on what you are telling me happened. Pitcher ends up throwing a couple of strikes and the count goes full. On the full count pitch the batter gets hit. Now the coaches for Team A are pissed and start openly accusing Team B's coach of instructing his pitcher to throw at the coaches son. I call time and issue warnings to both coaches that if another kid gets hit and we determine it was purposeful both the pitcher and head coach for that team will be ejected. It apparently worked because there were no other problems. Any advice on how to better handle this situation is appreciated.

The three P's only pertain to interactions between umpire and coach/player, not in general. Show don't apply that when dealing with how to handle coaches interacting with their players. Personally unless it's causing a disruption on my field I leave it alone.

Playing MLB rules in a 13U game. I'm BU in "B". Pitcher rolls through his pause I call "balk" loudly. Pitcher continues with the pitch. Batter bunts the ball. Then everyone just stops because they heard "balk". My partner and I do nothing. Then the OC yells at his BR to run. DC then yells at his catcher to throw the ball. BR is safe at first, and R1 acquires R2. Before I even have time to state that due to all runners including BR advanced DC comes out saying you called balk so it's a dead ball. I say no. For some reason the OC comes out as well and says he thinks it's a dead ball as well. I explain to both coaches that is a high school rule and that we are playing MLB rules. Coaches go back and just before we resume play the DC starts to come out of then dugout waving his phone stating "I have the rules right here". I state "Coach I don't need to see your phone I know the rule. I'd be happy to explain it further between innings but we are on the clock and need to get the game going let's play" Needless to say he never asked for that explanation. After the game he comes up to me and says "I understand the rule is that way to avoid hurting the offense". I'll take that as "Sorry for questioning you were right blue"

So situation is home team batting in bottom of seven and they are down 3 with 2 outs and runners on first and second. BR hits ball to SS throw at first is slightly off line. I'm PU and I clearly see a gap between foot and base at 1B. BU bangs BR out to end game. OC coach requests time and ask the BU to get help. BU comes to me and I tell him I clearly saw a gap. BU changes his call to safe. It was the right call 100% so I'm fine. Next batter comes up. Another ball to SS. Another wide throw that pulls F3. I watch R3 cross home and watching R2 touch third and still have time to glance over to first. I see the foot pulled but clearly see F3 return his foot back to the bag. BU calls BR safe and motions he pulled his foot. This time DC comes out and wants BU to get help. He comes to me and says "I don't think he ever got his foot back" . I tell him that I definitely saw his foot get back to the bag. He then says that he didn't think he got it back in time though. I know it was back in time, but I don't tell him that as I don't think that is my call. My call is based on an angle that he didn't have not timing. So he stays with his safe call. Next batter gets hit, then the next batter drives in the winning run. Game should have been over on the second appeal. Should I have been more assertive to get the call right?

It is all about coaching. In that tournament I was doing where I was accused of being the "only umpire in America" I believe it was a 14U game. With my same partner a few games later we had 12U kids that "climbed the ladder" and never asked for time once on a pick-off attempt. Some coaches take the easy way out and just tell their kids to request time so they don't have to ever be in danger of being put out for taking a hand off the bag. And as long as many umpires allow it, there is not reason to change it for coaches that are more focused on winning versus developing players.

Had a similar situation a few years back when I was more liberal in granting time and was part of the impetus to my stopping that practice. I'm in "C" with R2 only. Ball 4 and BR runs down to to first. R2 is running on the pitch. I sprint over towards the cutout for the steal attempt. Runner is safe on a close call, slides to avoid possible tag and barely hangs onto the bag. F5 holds the tag a little and I have to keep close eye on runner coming off back or being pushed off bag. 3B coach tells his runner to ask for time which I grant. Then I turn around and notice BR is about almost to second base. I send BR back to first and 3B coach argues that the runner was almost there when time was called. I said unless they were standing on second they are going back to first.

Thanks for the responses. While I knew I wasn't the only one it is still good to get that confirmation.

I had a situation where on a pickoff to second in the first inning the ball skipped into CF, F4 had fallen down next to R2 and was contacting him. The kid wanted time and I said "you're fine, you don't need time". The fans started in about not granting him time while F4 was laying on top of him. Which he wasn't, but that is beside the point. Then later that inning pick-off at first and the kid literally dove back in and turned and asked for time immediately. I told him "climb the ladder" and he was fine. The first base coach asked me to explain why I was not granting his kids time. I said they don't need time, and quickly explained that baseball is a live ball sport and time should only be granted when necessary. He responded that I was the only umpire in America that would not grant his kids time in those situations.

I mean the first base umpire. I assumed plate would be U1, first base would be U2 and third base would be U3? Wrong designations? I don't work much 3-man.

So I received advice on this board last year to try and limit granting time unless it is necessary. So rather than hold my hand out while a batter positions himself in the box I have allowed the pitcher to notice and not begin his motion. On the few occasions where they have begun early I've stopped play and asked them to step off and then simply told them to not begin their pitch until the batter is ready. So the other day I had a coach say "if he is in the box my pitcher does not have to wait". I replied "yes he does", he replied "no he doesn't". I dropped it at that point and continued the game. Part of me felt like I should have clarified that today during my game your pitcher has to wait. First off am I handling the situation correctly and would you have said anything more to the coach? I've also taken a stance I noticed from another umpire I worked with, plus a general philosophy regarding not granting time to the kids that call time every time they dive back into a base or when middle infielders jog the ball into the pitcher. My logic and understanding is that baseball is a live ball game and therefore time should only be granted when there is a reason for it. With this in mind on plays where a fielder is not "keeping the tag on him" I generally have not granted "time requests". I've caught a lot of flack from some coaches that teach their kids to call time constantly for this stuff. Do you guys just grant "time" if asked or do you use your discretion?

I also was told in 3-man if there are two outs regardless of the runners U2 will move to A. So with just R2, normally U3 would be in "D", if there were two outs U3 would move to "C" and U2 would go to "A" instead of "B". While I think it makes more sense than the OP re-positioning, I still think I can make a better call at first base from "B", then I can for a tag at third from "C".

As a Cardinal fan you should always approach Brandon Phillips that way. Just ask Yadier Molina.

A. After doing both I actually prefer on the line. I think I get a better look at the tag in front of the base which is more significant than LH pitchers foot in that it happens more often. B. I should have.

MadMax, I appreciate your input. I hope you also can understand that when someone makes assertions that are not completely in line with the situation I am going to want to clarify them. I will take everything you said and consider it as I always do. In #1 I was BU not PU. I did yell "balk, , , time". I then walked towards the pitchers mound and was announcing that the balk was negated due to the batters actions. If I'm going to negate a balk I need to expain why, right? How is it irrelevant to call "Balk. . . time", and then not explain why it is no balk? Trust me when the runner broke for home I was yelling "time has been called". But the kids were reacting to the play and their coaches yelling. I guess we can always be more demonstrative and it is true that had the kids not tried to make the play at third then there would not have been an ejection In #2 I have admitted that I was wrong in my positioning. When I originally posted that I did everything right I thought I was in the correct position, I now know differently. I was meaning that I without question saw that he did not get to home plate before the tag was applied. As I stated later it was not all that close of a play. I was not looking at third to help my partner with the call. I was looking at home and saw third out of the corner of my eye so I could assess where R3 was in relation to home as the tag was being applied. I obviously cannot wait for my BU's call because he will make a call well after the actual tag is applied. I guess I'm confused as to why being outside of the RH batters box means I was looking at 3B? I was probably about 8 feet from HP and close to 80 feet from 3B. #3 There are some different schools of thought regarding interacting with coaches. I believe that giving a short explanation is better than not giving one. I was not arrogant in the slightest with this coach. I simply concluded that the batter missed the second pitch being changed to a strike. Since the coach said "it was just 3-1" he must have missed that too. I simply reminded him of that. At no time was I even slightly condescending. That is why the ejection was so startling to me. Rather than extrapolate what you assume happened answer me how you would have handled the exact exchange: Coach: Time. That was ball 4. Me: No it is 3-2, The second pitch was changed to a strike because on appeal it was determined that he offered at the pitch prior to pulling back, I assume your batter didn't realize that. Coach: So you assumed? Me: yes I assumed that is why your batter was incorrect on the count. Coach: Well when you assume you make an ass out of yourself. Me: Coach you're gone. Honestly I didn't even want to eject him. But I felt that given the personal nature of his comment that is what I was supposed to do.

You are the only one that has been out of line, Matt. Kevin was not out of line when he said all three ejections could have been easily avoidable, I simply disagreed with him which adults are entitled to do. The immaturity comes out when someone disagrees and then they are called "stubborn" for simply disagreeing. Kevin stated an opinion. You stated short stabbing insults like "some things never change" and "but you were wrong". You offered no sensible analysis. Kevin was offering ways that the ejections could have been avoided, which if that is true, could have been helpful. This was in a thread titled "ejections". Had Grayhawk, Maven, or any other respected umpire on this site related my stories (minus the improper positioning because they are far better umpires than me), that would have been the story. There would not have been this immediate need to critique every detail of the situation. I appreciate the correction on where I should have been positioned. That is pertinent information. But why nitpick the rest of it. The real story was how much the coaches overreacted, not what I said or did every step of the way. The bottom line is that I was the umpire that was there, so I know more than anyone whether the ejections could have been avoided. I am the furthest thing from immature on the field. When it comes to game management I get compliments almost every time I work with umpires that I have not worked with before. I seldom throw coaches out. I'm known for the exact opposite actually. If you could simply explain how your few comments helped to make me a better umpire and contributed positively to the purpose of this board then I will apologize for my remarks. And let me assure you it is not "me against the world" as you would like to think. Every time I've stood my ground against the senseless comments such as yours I've received personal messages from multiple other umpires who read but refuse to post, because of the attacks and ridicule that come there way. So keep on insulting and driving umpires away just to get your rocks being arrogant and condescending. Trust me I welcome constructive criticism. But sometimes things just happen, and no matter how good of an umpire you think you are, the coach was going to get ejected. We can look at any situation and said if you handled it this way then this might have happened. If I wasn't too wordy in EJ #3 maybe it could have been avoided. Well there are probably a bunch of other times where because an umpire was unwilling to offer an explanation or ignored the coaches further comments that there attitude caused the ejection. It goes both ways.

No he wasn't right. He said I was not looking at home plate. I know you are smart enough to read. I've stated I should have been in a different position. To this point I thought that the side of the plate you called from on a play at the plate was personal preference. Now I know differently and will attempt to make that my practiced mechanic. Why do some of you find it so necessary to ridicule anyone with a backbone that does not cower down to your every word? As I've stated on here before I get a lot of great information on here which is why I keep coming back. But the attitude some of you present drives many umpires away. That cannot possibly be good for the board or for umpiring. It can't be that hard to not be an a-hole.

I think when you start calling older kids games the value of the slot should be evident. When calling anything under 14U a low pitch can oftentimes be seen because the catcher is not very big and with the expanded zone you can go by a common reference point like whether the catching turns his glove down. As you do older. higher quality games you need to be able to see that path to the glove and with the larger catchers you cannot see that anywhere but in the slot.

This is a question both about the proper mechanic and views on how to handle working with a partner that isn't using proper mechanics. I was doing three-man with one umpire I had never worked with before, and another that I had once worked a 2-man game with. The guy I had worked with before was on the dish, I was at first and the partner I had never worked with before was on third. Earlier in the day I had worked 3-man with two other guys from the same association as the first two I mentioned. In the earlier games I was on the dish and I noticed that the first base umpire in "A" was pretty much in the same place as he would be with a runner on first as with no runner on, he would simply square his shoulders to the mound. While this is different than I was told, I assumed that is the mechanic he was taught for this association. So I didn't say anything. Now I do the game where I'm at first so I decided I would do the same mechanic so there was no confusion. While the third base umpire was in "C" with a runner on first he motions for me to go further into foul territory. As this it the positioning I was taught and generally use I made the adjustment. The very next inning we get a runner on first and I take that position and the PU calls time and motions for me to move to a position with my right foot just off the first base line. I'm a little annoyed but make the adjustment back to how I started the game. At the end of the inning PU comes out to first base and basically gives me a positioning clinic on where I should stand and why. He claimed I should have my right foot just off the line (basically the same as with no one on base) and then turn my shoulders to square them up to the mound. I was told to basically line the rubber up so that it basically bisected my legs in foul territory so that I could clearly see if a LH pitcher crossed over the rubber thus committing himself to go home. A. Which is the correct mechanic or are both acceptable? B. I'm of the opinion that what the PU did was inappropriate in that it undermines the field authority of the BU. The coaches and players could see him instructing me and I feel as if that can impact the respect they have for the BU. I did not want to have a confrontation on the field so I did not say anything until after game. How would you handle or do you not have an issue with instructing a fellow umpire in this manner?

In retrospect I probably should have killed it, but my call was based on what I saw and heard. Once I point fair I pretty much have to stick with that call. It probably did hit bat then hand or maybe both at the same time. Based on the reaction of the ball and what I heard I'm confident it was mostly bat, but it may have caught part of the bottom of his bottom hand as well.

Do give any sort of verbal? I did step out from behind F2 and emphatically pointed to fair territory, but often they are not looking at me. Even the catcher was looking at the batter.

i took all the advice and even clarified with Grayhawk what he meant exactly by 3BLX. I have always called plays at the plate from just outside the RH batters box. I've seen pros call that tag at the plate from 1st base side and I've heard reasoning that you get a much better view of a swipe tag. Fifteen years ago when I started umpiring that was not the mechanic I was taught. I was always taught and/or it is just where I've felt comfortable to be similar position to where the umpire was in the picture, but on the other side. What Grayhawk said makes total sense and I never disputed that advice. The singular sentence that I disputed was the contention that all three ejections could have been "easily avoided" and that all three were "directly related to what the umpire did or did not do". I admitted in sitch #1 that I probably should have waived off the first balk. But once again the situation that occurred after that was not related to the first balk, The coach was under the impression that unless I enforced the balk I could not kill the play. I tried to explain this to him. He wanted the out at third base because he was under the impression that I had no right to call time when the runner was off the base, unless I called an enforceable balk. The story was about a coach that was irate because he wanted a balk to happen, but be waived off and time to never be called. In sitch #2 the coach never said a word about where I was positioned. He stated that I was not looking at the play, which I was. There are times when we cannot line every play up and we have to look at out first priority and keep our peripheral vision on our second priority. He claimed that I never looked at home plate. Which was patently false. I guess it is possible that if I were on the other side of the plate he may not have made that argument. But I doubt it with the way he came unglued. I will attempt to break my bad habit of calling plays at the plate from the third base side of home plate. As I definitely see the positives of that. In sitch #3 I understand not giving too much information, but the only reason I could understand why the kid didn't know the count is that he was not listening to me announce it and was keeping it in his head and forget about the changed call on the appeal. Sometimes we give completely innocuous responses and it just blows up because of the personality of the coach. I could probably say the same exact thing 100 different times and none of the would result in an ejection. I was not abrasive or confrontational at all. The story was not about what I could have done differently it was about how much the coach overreacted. I never indicated I did not think there were things I should have done differently. I only disagreed that the ejections were easily avoidable.